The Team of Fire and Failure
by RedMoose
Summary: What happens when four hunters graduate at the bottom of the class? They try to prove them selves worth of the title Huntsman or Huntress, this is exactly what Team ABEX(apex) is trying to do with some success, some failure, and lots of property damage. Currently on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.** _So this is my first Fanfiction, so please bear with me. I'm not the strongest writer but I'm learning so bear with it for a little while._

* * *

 **Chapter I**

* * *

"Well we're fucked" Elm said unhappily as a large horde of Grimm surrounded them.

"Not yet we're not" Elms brother Nile spat out a glob of blood while talking.

"No it isn't" Elm said suddenly lighting up with an idea.

"If it's what I think it is, then fuck no!" Nile shouted while quickly dodging a Beowolf strike, countering with an attack of his own, decapitating the Grimm.

"Got a better idea? No, ok let's do it!" Elm shouted back. Running toward Nile he activated his staff causing burn dust and wind dust to shoot out of the top. With his semblance he ignited the dust and with the shock wave produced by his aura he sent a roaring wave a flame and pain rushing forward at the Grimm. Nile used the bow form of his weapon and began picking off the remaining Grimm. Elm transferred his staff to his right hand and drew his short sword, activated the gun mode and proceeded to kill the rest of the Grimm. Once they were finished Elm sat down on a rock and changed out the dust cylinder in his staff. Returning his sword back to its sheath he changed his staff into cane form and slid it neatly in its holster above his sword at his back.

"Well that was interesting, drinks on me tonight, we deserve it." Elm said stretching out on his rock.

"Yeah ok whatever you say." Nile grumbled to himself.

"Remind me why we decided to come this way again?" Nile asked.

"Don't tell me after all this time you don't even remember the way back to your home village." Elm asked with sarcasm in his voice.

"Yeah yeah, but why would they want to see us? Especially you." Nile said bluntly.

"Well I'm not going there to say hello to old friends" Elm stated. "Like I had any." He said under his breath.

"I wanted to repay the blacksmith for all he did for me and to say hello to my mother who we both know was the only reason I'm alive." Elm replied fiercely.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Nile said to himself.

"And besides when was the last time you saw our mother, you are her son after all." Elm questioned.

"I don't know, it's been too long" Nile thought.

"Well I can tell you" Elm stated, grinning. "It's been 12 years and 3 months today." He said.

"God it's been that long" Nile said surprised

"Yep but I'm worried about the town. There were supporters of the white fang even before they changed their ways." said Nile with a worried look on his face.

"Shit I forgot about that." Elm said standing up.

"We best be off. I told Clancy and the twins we would meet them in Vale in a week." Elm told Nile while walking down the road. They continued on their way for a few more hours until they reached the town of Goldleaf. When they got there Elm looked around and said "Fuck this bullshit I'm leaving, I'll call Clancy and tell him we'll be early.

"What did you see?" Nile asked turning to look in the gates. The first thing he saw was the massive white fang banner strung across the town center. Everywhere he saw white fang members strolling around doing various and sundry tasks. He knew how much his brother despised the white fang it was almost as much as his hate for pineapples which was unparalleled by any other. His problem was that the white fang embraced the stereotype that all Faunus were no good criminals and hated them for it. Having grown up with a brother who was Faunus he saw firsthand the terrible effect it had on Nile so he now stops it whether it was deserved or not, he didn't care, Elm didn't want anyone else to suffer like his brother had.

"Hey Elm wait for me!" Nile shouted and with that they were off to Vale to meet up with the rest of their team.

* * *

"Hey Clancy it's good to see you! How've yeah been?" Elm said excitedly.

"Good we didn't expect to see you here so early." Clancy stated questioning.

"Well, high five for being early." Elm said holding up his hand.

"Fuck off Elm, I won't fall for that again!" Clancy jeered.

"Haha that's what you think but I'll get you eventually!" Elm said smirking.

"Let's go find a room, Xplit and Xplat will be here eventually." Clancy suggested. And with that they were off.

"Holy fuck I am bored out of my mind" Elm exclaimed laying on his bed.

"Well this is how everyone with a normal life feels." Xplat said.

"Which is exactly why I wanted to become a hunter." Elm said sitting up.

"Well I hear the shadow a hunter day is coming up at Beacon, we should put ourselves in we could probably take two teams." Stated Nile, who was relaxing in a chair examining his weapon.

"Don't do that, you'll overload the circuits." Elm told Nile

"Shut up I know what I'm doing" Nile said just as his weapon exploded in a puff of blue flame and electricity.

"I told you so. Man you are fucking terrible even with your own damn weapon. You built it yourself for god's sake." Elm said as he grabbed the pieces of Nile's weapon and started reassembling it.

"With your help Elm," Nile said cleaning himself up, "You do most of the modifications on all our weapons, hell, that's the third version of your staff." Nile pointed out.

"Yeah I guess you're right." Elm said finishing up what he was doing "There good as new". He said handing the weapon to his brother.

"I like the idea of taking a team or two of huntresses and hunters." Clancy said changing the topic.

"Alright it's settled. We'll go sign up tomorrow I'm exhausted." Elm said laying back in his bed and falling fast asleep.

"Leave it to Elm to fall asleep in full battle gear." Xplat said mockingly.

"You shut up or I'll kick your ass!" Elm said just before falling back asleep.

"Did he just wake up to insult me and go back to bed?" Xplat said incredulously and switched to Xplit.

"Don't bother Xplat, you know he could probably beat most of us without any real difficulty." Clancy admitted.

"It's Xplit and yeah you're right." Xplit said.

"God fucking damn it!" Clancy swore.

"Alright that's it I'm off to bed too." Nile said through a yawn

"Yeah we should all hit the hay we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow." Clancy said, falling asleep.

* * *

"Alright where do we sign up? Because I have no idea where we're going" Nile said as the four members of team ABEX stood in the courtyard of Beacon Academy.

"We need to talk to the headmaster," Clancy said sighing deeply. "This will be a long day." He said to himself.

Team ABEX walked through the halls of the school until they were stopped by a stout man with gray hair, thick bushy eyebrows and a large gray mustache. He was dressed in a beacon staff uniform.

"Hello there, how may I help you fine gentleman and lady. My name is Professor Port." The man said.

"Hey there's two of us in here you know." Xplat said sharply.

"Oh god it's him" Elm said groaning.

"Ah Elm how have you been?" Port asked.

"I've been good, haven't gotten myself killed yet". Elm replied.

"Well then that's always a good thing." Port replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by Clancy asking where they could find the headmaster.

"Ah Ozpin's office would be just down the hall to the left and into the elevator then up to the top floor." Port replied and continued on his way.

"Well after you" Elm said sarcastically looking at Xplat.

"Fuck off Elm" Xplat said while flipping Elm off.

"Oohh feisty" Elm said mockingly.

"Alright you two calm down and let's go meet the headmaster." Clancy said already tired of Elm and Xplats' fighting.

"One thing, before we go meet this Ozpin I vote that Xplit be in control." Nile said putting his hand up.

"Nile put your hand down you look ridiculous. But I agree" Clancy said looking at Elm. "Well what do you think?" Clancy said while crossing his arms.

"I don't particularly care however Xplit is calmer and a better listener than Xplat. So I have to agree." Elm said taking out his cane and leaning on it.

Seeing Xplats hand creeping toward her weapon. Clancy decided to intervene.

"Just do it Xplat you know Elm will make you switch whether you like it or not." Clancy stated reluctantly.

"It's Xplit and I knew that already." Xplit said adjusting the way her weapons sat in their sheaths.

"Fuck this I'm leaving." Clancy said angrily and headed towards Ozpin's office.

* * *

Ozpin was sitting at his desk sipping a cup of coffee and going over the list of missions that his students would soon be undertaking. The door to his office opened and four people walked in. Ozpin set his mug down, dismissed his displays, and put his hands together resting his elbows on his desk.

"Good afternoon, how may I help you?" He asked in his ever present monotone voice.

"Hi my name is Clancy Aruna. I am the leader of team ABEX and we would like sign up for the shadow a hunter day that is coming up in the next few days." Their leader said.

"Well that won't be any trouble, all I need is proof that you are capable of handling students on a dangerous mission." Ozpin told the hunters and huntresses.

"Well I've got mine" One of the hunters said as he walked forward and placed his scroll on the table in front of Ozpin

Ozpin picked up the scroll and placed it in the data slot. He pulled up the hunter's profile.

"Elm Zaffre, member of team ABEX" he read out. "Graduated bottom of his class from Haven, Is now rated one of the top hunters in his kingdom, now teaches students at Sanctum. Very impressive Mr. Zaffre." Ozpin said.

"Master, I'm not married yet. Please call me Elm. " Elm corrected.

"Well then Elm I believe that you are more than qualified to take a team of hunters and huntresses in training on a mission." Ozpin said

"Now then, does anyone else have a reference?" Ozpin asked.

"I-I do sir." The only huntress on the team said shyly.

"Well let's see what we have. Xplit Phrostburne and Xplat Phrostburne, two different people in the same body and member of team ABEX." Ozpin said while reading.

"Graduated from Haven, teaches literature at Sanctum, Well Ms. Phrostburne I believe that you too are qualified to take students on a mission." Ozpin stated.

"Is there anyone else?" Ozpin asked.

The remaining two hunters standing in front of him placed their scrolls on his desk.

"Nile Blue-tide and Clancy Aruna you both are members of team ABEX, Clancy you are the leader and Nile you are a member. You both are hunters as your main occupation. Well I believe that you are capable of supervising students but since the remaining missions require two hunters you will be working in pairs, based on your profiles you will be pair as such." Ozpin explained.

"The teams will be as such Elm and Clancy, and Nile, Xplit and Xplat will be on a team." Ozpin decided

"That will be all for now." Ozpin said dismissing the team before anyone could object.

Ozpin watched the team leave.

"This will be an interesting few days to come." Ozpin said to himself and went back to his work.

* * *

"What job did you get?" Elm asked Xplat.

"Clancy and I got a search and destroy mission." Elm told the other half of team ABEX.

"Nice, all we got was a reconnaissance mission. We're supposed to check out a potential Forward Operating Base or FOB for Vales' military." Said Nile with a bored expression.

"I know it sounds boring but you're there to show students what being a hunter or huntress is actually like, and that includes the boring stuff." Clancy explained to an obviously very unexcited Nile.

Elm took a deep sigh. "I feel you, reconnaissance missions are not my type. Too much sneaking around and not enough explosions." Elm said his eyes lighting up at the last part.

Elm got up and went to the bathroom to change out of his clothes. He emerged a few minutes later in his white cotton tee shirt and blue light cotton pants.

"Well, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow its best if we hit the hay." Elm said as he climbed into his bed.

"I agree with that I'm beat." Xplat said as she too changed into her sleepwear and left for the room she and Clancy shared one floor down.

"Okay we meet at the school first thing in the morning." Clancy told the brothers as he left the room.

"Got it, see you then." Nile said while hopping into bed.

"Did you get that Elm?" Clancy asked his sleeping teammate.

All that was heard from Elm was a muffled okay and some indiscernible words as Elm rolled over and pressed his face into his pillow.

"God this reminds me when we were still in school" Clancy muttered to himself as he walked down the hall.

"Why does this suddenly seem like a bad idea…? Oh right it's because I'll be working with Elm for the next few days." Clancy said, feeling a mental shudder flow through his brain.

He entered the now dark room with Xplit and Xplat asleep in one of the beds.

Clancy got changed and lay down in his bed. As he was falling asleep he suddenly got the feeling that team ABEX would be working as a team whether it was planned or not.

"Oh god, this is going to turn out horribly." Clancy thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **A.N.** Well now that that's over, I would like to thank OrigamiEnderdragon for helping me edit this brain child of mine. Now, on to the next chapter.

 _OrigamiEnderdragon:_ Yay me! I am the ultimate grammar Nazi.

 _RedMoose:_ You may have seen me in another FanFic, I am an editor of that one too. If you haven't read it yet go check it out immediately. Seriously stop reading this and go read all of his and then go finish reading mine. The name is Beacon of Hope and it's done by a writer named Spartan25798

 _RedMoose_ : Here is the link to his story A Beacon of Hope- /s/11509129/1/RWBY-Beacon-of-Hope.

 _OrigamiEnderdragon:_ Does this request include me too? Also isn't that that YouTube channel you guys play Grimm Eclipse on?

 _RedMoose:_ Yes that's correct. Check that out too. Alright I'll see you in the next chapter after you finish reading his.

 _OrigamiEnderdragon:_ Cue taken to stop talking and get editing whatever is to come...


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.** Second chapter, here goes nothing. You guys like traveling? I hope you like traveling because we're going on a trip to the far off land of... Shhh spoilers. *Puts finger to lips.*

Spartan25798: _and we wouldn't want spoilers' like- *Gets knocked out for almost revealing spoilers*_

 _RedMoose:_ There we go. Enjoy the chapter dear reader(s) while I find somewhere to hide the body.

* * *

 **Chapter II**

* * *

"Okay we're here but where are our students?" Elm asked Clancy while they were waiting by the airship that was commissioned to take them out of Vale and deep into the mountains.

"Probably still getting the good luck speech from Ozpin." Clancy said, not very interested in what his partner had to say.

"Hey I think I see them off in the distance." Elm suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"Really then why don't you go say hi?" Clancy told Elm.

"Good idea let's go." Elm grabbed Clancy's arm and dragged his very uncooperative partner along.

"Hey, I said you, not us!" Clancy complained, trying to breaking free of his partner's unsettlingly strong grip.

"Stop being such a party pooper." Elm told his unwilling companion.

"Fine, but let me walk on my own." Clancy said failing to resist Elm's unmatched stubbornness.

"Ahh there we go." Elm said setting Clancy on his feet.

The two hunters approached the team of students who were going to regret their decision to pick this particular job.

* * *

"HELLO THERE! HOW ARE YOU ALL TODAY?" Was the first thing Mahogany heard from the man who was going to look after him for the next few days.

As they got closer they could see two different people walking towards them. The one who was talking to them had a dark green vest with a white shirt underneath. He had on loose khakis and carried a cane. The second hunter who appeared to be following behind as if he didn't want to be there had on red suit jacket with a white suit shirt and blue jeans.

"Hello nice to meet you, my name is Elm Zaffre and this is my partner Clancy Aruna." The man called Elm introduced himself, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Mahogany Birch this is Helo Turpentine, Gold Sevroph, and Ying Redwood together we are team MHGY" Mahogany said listing off his team members. Mahogany took Elm's hand and felt the joints of his hand pop at the strength of Elm's grip. He withdrew his hand shaking it to return the feeling.

"Well then, now that introductions are out of the way why don't we head off?" Elm said gesturing for them to follow.

"Where are you all from?" The man named Clancy asked.

"We're actually from Haven but we're here for an exchange program." Mahogany explained.

"Really no way, were graduates of Haven ourselves!" Elm said, excited.

"What team were you on?" Helo asked.

"Team ABEX." Elm said boasting.

"Really, you guys are from the worst team of that graduating year." Gold said holding back a laugh.

Clancy sighed longly before speaking. "Yes we were terrible but you have nothing to worry about, this is only a scouting mission. We won't be doing anything too dangerous." Clancy said glaring at his partner who kept walking on as if Clancy wasn't there.

"ELM!" Clancy shouted.

"What sorry I spaced out there for a second." Elm said with a grin on his face.

"Holy fucking god you are annoying." Clancy said walking away and onto the ship.

"Aww thanks, I try really hard." Elm said mockingly as his partner stormed off.

"Well let's get going." Elm told the team as he climbed on the ship.

"All right then let's go." Ying said climbing onto the ship.

The rest of the team followed him as they prepared for an interesting adventure.

"SO WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Mahogany shouted over the noise of the engines.

"FIRST WE'RE OFF TO THE AIRFIELD, THEN ATLAS WHERE WE WILL MEET THE HUNTER AND TEAM WE ARE WORKING WITH." Elm explained.

They rode in silence for a while until Elm broke the silence.

"FUCK!" Elm suddenly shouted.

"WHAT IS IT?" His partner asked.

"I FORGOT PRETTY MUCH ALL OUR GEAR AT THE INN." Elm confessed to his partner.

The only way team Mahogany could tell that Clancy sighed was his mouth opening and his shoulders moving up and down.

"I'LL GO GRAB IT AND MEET YOU EITHER AT THE AIRSTRIP OR ATLAS." Elm shouted as he jumped out of the moving airship.

That earned a surprised look from the entire team of students.

"DON'T WORRY HE DOES STUFF LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME." Clancy shouted.

They rode in relative silence for the rest of the way.

* * *

Once they landed they saw Elm standing with 4 large duffel bags at his feet and two on his back.

"Where the hell did all this stuff come from?" Clancy asked his partner bewildered.

"It was dropped off after we left." Elm explained.

"You beat us here carrying all that?" Gold asked completely lost.

"Well he is a hunter after all." Ying said not quite believing his own words.

"We should better get going or the plane will leave without us. All right everyone grab a bag." Elm said tossing bags to each member of team Mahogany.

"Holy shit! This is heavy!" Ying exclaimed as he caught the bag and nearly dropped it.

"What's in this?" asked Clancy who was able to catch the bag but needed both hands to carry it.

"Not sure, the note said not to check." Elm told his partner as he tossed bags to the rest of team MHGY.

"They could be bombs." Clancy whispered to Elm as they walked behind team MHGY who were struggling to carry the heavy bags.

"Don't worry I checked for that there is no hints of dust in any of them." Elm told his worried partner.

"Good, now why don't you go help the students over there it seems they are having issues carrying these ungodly heavy bags." Clancy said as he readjusted the bag on his back.

"Oh come on they're not that heavy." He said as he held one up with one hand.

"Yes that's you with your unnatural strength. This is the rest of us." Clancy explained barely holding his with two hands.

"Ughh fine, I ran here with all six I deserve a break." Elm complained as he shifted one of his to his back.

"You can have a break on the ship." Clancy told his partner.

Elm sighed but walked over and took bags from Helo and Mahogany.

"Thanks." Breathed Helo who looked like she was ready to pass out.

"No problem." Elm said with a smile.

"Hey what about us?" Asked Gold who, like everyone else, was having trouble.

Tossing a bag to Clancy who caught it and just about fell over, Elm began to speak:

"Mahogany help Gold, Helo help Ying." He told the team as he walked ahead as if the bags were weightless.

"Just how?" Ying asked Helo.

"I don't know maybe his semblance or something?" Was Helo's response.

"All right set those bags down here the loading crew will get them on the plane." Elm said, pointing at a trolley by the cargo hold of the plane.

"Finally! My arms felt as if they were about to fall off." Helo complained.

"All right then everyone, pass me your weapons and dust they need to go into a case and be stored in the hold." Elm told the crew setting a large case as tall as he was on the ground. Elm opened the case and team MHGY saw spots for weapons ammo and dust.

They all took turns handing their weapons to Elm who disassembled and placed the proper tags and locks in place, Mahogany handed his weapon in sickle form, Helo all the dust she carried, Gold simply handed her armour bag to Elm who checked it over and set it in the case. Ying's weapon caused the most problems because the hammer was too long to fit in the case. Elm ended up taking the head off the hammer setting it in the case and the handle in a separate cylinder along with his own staff. . Once that was all done Elm locked the case with several padlocks.

"Now then, who's ready to fly to Atlas?" Elm asked the group.

No one raised their hand.

"Well this will be interesting." Clancy to his partner as they boarded the ship.

"Yay, an eight hour flight with quiet and not very chatty students." You could probably scoop the sarcasm that was dripping from Elm's mouth with a spoon.

"It won't be that bad, maybe you'll get something out of them." Clancy told Elm.

"Yeah, anyway let's get going." Elm said boarding the ship.

"Ladies first." Clancy said, a large grin spreading on his face.

"Age before beauty." Elm got out quickly before he entered the cabin of the airship.

"Damn that was fast." Clancy said to himself as he boarded the ship.

* * *

The flight went pretty well and Elm managed to get some responses out of Team MHGY. Their leader Mahogany didn't talk much, a stark contrast to his partner Helo who, once she was comfortable with her surroundings, wouldn't shut up for most of the flight which was much to Clancy's dismay. Gold was polite and formal as her birth from a family of ancient knights that could be traced back from before the first human Faunus war always taught her to be respectful of her elders. Ying was from a family of martial artists and had considerable skill but he never picked up on it, so he learned from a teacher at Sanctum to fight more on the berserker side of things. By the end of the flight they all were laughing and smiling obviously to the enjoyment of Elm who made it his personal goal to make them laugh at least once a day. Once the plane landed they all unloaded and got their heavy bags. This time it was Helo and Gold to one bag and Ying and Mahogany to another.

"We don't have to carry these back to the hotel do we?" Helo asked stretching out her sore arms.

"No, we're meeting the Atlas team who will be accompanying us on our trip." Elm told the team looking around the crowded docks.

"So what's this team's name?" Asked Ying.

"I think its team BOOP." Said Clancy, startling everyone.

"Jeez! It's easy to forget you're there." Exclaimed Helo.

"I'll take that as a complement." Clancy rolled his eyes and gave a sigh. Without another thought, he continued to look around the area.

"I see them." Elm said after a while pointing south.

"Yep that's them alright let's go." Clancy said hoisting his gear on his back.

"You heard the man, let's go." Elm told the team grabbing his things.

"If only I could fire my weapon a few times the kinetic energy would give me enough strength to carry this." Ying told his teammate as he struggled to carry his bag.

"You said you need kinetic energy?" Elm asked, over hearing Ying's conversation.

"Yeah, my semblance allows me to absorb kinetic energy and add it to my strength." Ying explained.

"How long does it last?" Questioned Elm.

"Until my aura replenishes." Ying answered.

"Hmm I have an idea, set the bag down and get ready to block a punch." Elm explained to Ying as he got into position.

Ying got ready, Elm threw a punch, and the force from it sent Ying stumbling back several steps.

"There you go, how's that?" Elm asked, tossing Ying a bag.

"Much better." Ying said as he caught the bag.

"How did you do that? I've never even seen Ying move from a punch much less take several steps back" Gold asked suddenly.

"My semblance allows me to focus my aura and send it out in concentrated blasts of kinetic energy." Elm explained to a bewildered Gold.

"Which is why if he ever offers a high five, for the love of god DO. NOT. TAKE. IT!" Clancy glared at Elm, who pretended that nothing happened.

"Now then, off we go." Elm said pointing to team BOOP who appeared to be no closer than before.

"Yes let's get this over with already." Clancy said, clearly not impressed with Elms ideas.

Once they reached the Atlassian team and traded off the gear they agreed to meet at the airfield at noon the next day. They arrived at the hotel and got their rooms. It was Elm and Clancy in one room, Helo and Gold in the next room over, and Mahogany and Ying in the room across the hall. They were all tired from a long day of traveling and decided to meet in Elm and Clancy's room at ten the next morning. With that they were all asleep within five minutes, little did they know that the next day was going to involve much more excitement than they had originally expected

* * *

 **A.N.** Well that didn't take me as long as I expected. Probably about four days including all the editing and revisions. Although for the first day I had about two lines written in.

 _RedMoose_ : Well that turned out way better than expected.

 _Spartan25798:_ _what did you expect from that exactly?_

 _RedMoose_ : Umm, not as well thought out.

 _Spartan25798: I see, well, I'm going to go work on my story now, and hope that someone (Not naming names) actually fills out the damn character sheet_

 _RedMoose_ : Really? Because it's like 12 at night when we're writing these.

 _Spartan25798: I do my best/worst work at night._

 _RedMoose:_ Fair enough well then I wish you the best of luck to you in your endeavours.

 _Spartan25798: Thanks, now all of you readers, get to bed, or go do work… I guess it depends on the time of day… anyway, bye._

 _RedMoose:_ See ya later. *Goes for high five*

 _OrigamiEnderdragon: Like he's going to return that._


	3. Chapter 3

**A.N.** I honestly didn't think I would finish two chapters.

Spartan25798: _If you didn't, you would have left everyone on cliff-hangers. It's always fun to do that. Trust me I know…_

 _RedMoose_ : You're right, writing is so much fun.

 _Spartan25798:_ That's because it was the beginning of the infamous Xd…

 _RedMoose:_ ahh, the infamous "go choke on a dick" emoji. My favourite.

Spartan25798: _It totally wasn't a misspelling on my part… Also I like the … If you couldn't tell already…_

 _RedMoose:_ Shhh didn't you learn from the last chapter? Keep your mouth shut.

 _Spartan25798: Fine, let's get reading this thing then_

* * *

Chapter III

* * *

Elm was awoken by his scroll buzzing on the hollow sheet metal desk which was making a sound comparable to a thunderstorm.

"Huh, what, I'm up." Snorted Elm from his position on the bed.

Looking over he saw the message was from the Atlas military which read:

" _Due to a severe storm warning, all ships are grounded for today. Your mission will be postponed till tomorrow. Feel free to enjoy your stay at our state of the art combat facility. Sincerely Lieutenant Brooks_."

"Well that's just great." Elm complained, getting himself dressed in his usual clothes. He opened the weapon case and momentarily forgot why it was full of weapons. Grabbing his gear he turned around roused his sleeping partner.

"Clancy get your ass out of bed! We're sparring today, then we're going for cake!" Elm shouted, waking his sleeping partner.

"You know, I would appreciate that offer if I hadn't been woken up by you. Honestly, anyone else waking me up and then you asking me to spar with you, I'd be in one hundred percent." Clancy got up out of bed and gave a big yawn.

"Well too fucking bad, I'm all you got to get your lazy ass out of bed." Elm said barely hiding a smile.

"My lazy ass? The only reason you're waking me up today is because you got that message. Half of the time you're out of bed last, and the other half of the time you aren't even in bed, just passed out on the floor." Clancy said clearly not happy about any of what was going on.

"Hold up I'm sending a message." Elm put a finger up looking at his scroll.

"Okay, what were you saying?" Elm looked up innocently.

"FUCK. YOU." Clancy spat out every word with the intent to kill.

"Ohhh anger management my friend. You can vent some rage during our sparring match." Elm mocked as he danced out of way of the lamp being thrown at him.

"Anyway, what did the message say that caused this whole mess?" Clancy said, gesturing around the room.

"Our mission is postponed till tomorrow. There's a storm incoming. Now let's eat" Elm explained as he walked out the room on a mission to find food.

* * *

"Aww they look so peaceful, let's wake them up!" Elm stood standing in the doorway to Helo and Golds room.

"You are one sadistic person." Clancy took one step back seeing Elm beginning to charge his semblance.

"Go tell the others they have five minutes to get ready and be prepared to fight. We meet in the lobby." Elm said closing the door softly.

"Why not tell the girls this?" Clancy asked fearing the worst.

"I told all of them before we went down for breakfast." Elm explained. He stepped back and hit the door with an open palm strike. This sent the door flying back and smashing into the drywall on the other side of the room. Tossing the girls gear on their beds he walked in picked up the door seeing the handle put a hole in the drywall.

"Damn." he said under his breath.

"You have five minutes to be in the lobby and ready for combat." He said strolling out of the room replacing the door in the battered door frame.

"Your turn." Elm said smiling, looking at Clancy who sighed and walked to the room containing Mahogany and Ying.

Clancy's awakening was less aggressive and more straightforward. He simply opened the door, walked to the other side of the room opened the blinds, tipped the boys beds over and told them the same thing Elm told their teammates. Elm handed them their weapons and followed Clancy out.

"You think I'm sadistic? That was beautiful, almost like the military." Elm asked, clearly surprised by his partners choices.

"They'll be fine, who do you think I got it from?" Clancy asked Elm as they were walking down to the lobby.

"Still, I would hate to be on your bad side." Elm said to himself.

"You're always on my bad side. It would just take too much effort and time to shut you up sometimes." Clancy simply stated.

"Fair enough." Elm replied, taking what Clancy said as a complement.

"Hold up I'm going to get some coffee." Elm stopped and bought five cups of coffee and a cup of chamomile tea for Clancy, handing Clancy his drink, he added milk to his and set off towards the lobby.

The entirety of team MHGY was already there looking messy and unkempt.

"I'm impressed, three minutes thirty four seconds." Elm said looking at this watch.

"What the fuck was that for?" Gold asked angrily, her hair messy and her armour thrown on over her pajamas.

"You'll need to get used to waking up early and possibly doing combat." Clancy explained, taking a sip of his drink.

"You did a good job at it, anyways, here have some coffee." Handing each of them a mug of the warm drink.

"Alright here's the plan, we meet at the Atlas training facility in an hour and a half, I want to see what you can do. If you do well Clancy and I will spar." Elm explained, taking a sip of coffee after he finished.

"We are going to spar whether they do good or not." Clancy said, taking too large of a drink and burning his tongue.

"Shit!" Clancy swore under his breath.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Elm confessed.

"After that's done we're going to get cake. Alright see you in an hour and a half, last one there fights first." Elm said as they stepped out the door and headed off to the facility.

* * *

After Elm and Clancy left, team MHGY agreed to meet down in the restaurant in half an hour. They all retired to their respective rooms to get changed and prepare for the day ahead. Once everyone was seated at the table they all ordered food and chatted while they waited.

"They are completely insane." Was the first thing Helo said as soon as the waiter left the table?

"I wouldn't say they are insane, just odd." Gold tried to settle down her friend.

"I agree with Gold but still the way Clancy woke us up was harsh." Ying said taking a sip of his coffee as he spoke.

"How did he wake you guys up? Elm blew out our door talked to us then left. Gold explained what happened to them.

"Yeah it was really mean." Helo complained.

"You think that was mean? Clancy walked in and just dumped us out of our beds." Mahogany said startling everyone.

"Well I hope our food comes soon. We have about forty minutes till we need to meet them at the school." Gold said looking at her scroll.

Once their food came they ate quickly and asked for the bill. They all paid their share and left, grabbing their weapons on the way out. As they left a friendly bet was made, who ever came in last had to not only fight first but also had to pay for the cake afterwards. They all shook hands, and Mahogany counted down.

"3, 2, 1, Go." Mahogany said and they all dashed off, each one trying to not be last.

* * *

"They kind of remind me of us, back when we were in school." Elm told Clancy as they were waiting for team MHGY, passing the time doing warmup exercises.

"Oh yeah, How so?" Clancy asked.

"Well Gold and Mahogany remind me of you, Mahogany gives them directions but does not monitor their every move. Where Gold reins everyone in and keeps order but still doesn't let that stop her from having fun." Elm explained, while finishing his warm up.

"They should be arriving shortly." Clancy said glancing at his watch.

As if on cue Mahogany walked through the door.

"First one here, nice, start warming up and meet us at the sparring ring." Elm told Mahogany. He picked up his stuff and walked into the other room, began setting up a table and set his tools out. Mahogany got up went through his warm up exercises.

The next to show up was Gold, Clancy told her the same thing Elm told her teammate. A few minutes later Ying came in the door panting, this time Clancy was waiting in the sparring room with Elm so Mahogany told him what to do.

"So how did you get here so fast Mahogany?" Ying asked once he finished warming up.

"I took the shuttle from the hotel." Mahogany explained.

"I didn't even know that they had one." Gold said.

"I saw it on our way here yesterday." Mahogany told Gold, loading his weapon and making sure everything was in place.

"So does anyone know where Helo is?" Ying asked once they were finished talking.

"She probably got lost." Gold said sighing to herself.

"Should we go lo-?" Ying was interrupted by the doors to the facility opening and Helo stumbling in panting and with a large case in her hand. "How late am I?" She asked in between breaths.

"Well, based on how you've just gotten here, I'd say not that late, but still late. I guess Elm can decide your fate for that." Clancy smiled.

"Not that late? Well Helo, you arrived twenty minutes late, so that means you have to last twenty minutes total against Clancy and me to get some cake." Elm explained rubbing his hands together.

"Now then shall we?" Elm said gesturing to the stage behind him.

Helo groaned but followed him onto the stage. They both took positions and Clancy counted down.

"Three, two, one, begin!" Said Clancy backing up.

They both charged at each other, Elm being the faster of the two activated his cane and within seconds the short cane became a staff as long as he was tall. Elm shifted to a two handed grip and brought the end down towards Helos head. Suddenly there was a bright flash and Elm was thrown back a few feet. Landing on his feet, Elm stood up to see the case Helo had been previously holding open. Inside the case he saw several jars of dust. Helo taking the chance, loaded up her belt with the jars of dust. Helo sprayed some of the burn and wind dust in the air, she began to rise and once she reached ten feet in the air she dived at Elm who dodged right and unsheathed a short sword attached to his belt. He swung at Helo but she blocked it with a wall of ice. Elm re sheathed his sword and ducked under a blast of burn dust that was sent his way. Elm stood up, smiled, unsheathed his short sword, switched it to handgun mode and fired several rounds at Helo who blocked them with a combo of burn and ice dust.

"At this rate we won't get anywhere." Elm said to himself.

"Well, then I'm accomplishing my goal." Helo said, proud of herself.

"I really didn't want to do this… Wait who am I kidding, of course I want to do this." Elm said to himself sheathing his sword and cane.

"Do wha-, Holy shit!" Helo exclaimed as Elm suddenly rushed her. He planted his foot and pivoted, driving his knee into Helos stomach. Helo, who folded over and felt the breath being driven out of her lungs, looked up to see Elm's open fist slam into her chest and send her flying, slamming into the padded wall at the other end of the room.

"Now that that's over who's next?" Elm asked turning around.

"Ouch I'm going to feel that tomorrow, so how long did I last?" Helo asked, earning a chuckle from Elm.

"Uh... nine minutes thirty four seconds." Clancy replied.

"Yay!" Helo cheered.

"Alright then, Ying you're up next." Elm beckoned Ying over who sighed and took his position across from Elm.

Clancy counted down and they rushed at each other. Elm dodged a swipe from Ying's hammer and struck Ying is his chest. Ying merely staggered backwards and swung his hammer in a downward strike even faster than before.

"That semblance, will be a pain in the ass." Elm said to himself while dodging a kick from Ying.

Their fight continued for a bit, neither giving up their ground.

"Ok, screw being careful let's do this the old fashioned way." Elm said rolling up his sleeves for effect.

Elm pulled out some black fingerless gloves from a pouch on his belt, jumped over a low strike from Ying, landed on the head of Ying's hammer and pulled on his gloves, securing them snuggly. Elm jumped off the hammer and stood in a wide stance with plenty of space behind him. Ying, taking the opening, swung his hammer horizontally with the ground and appeared to strike Elm. When the dust cleared he saw Elm with the hammer stopped between both of his hands. Elm, shifting his grip on the hammer, wrenched it out of a surprised Ying's hands. Tossing the weapon to the side Elm charged Ying and began hitting him with a flurry of attacks. His attacks being ineffective, Elm let Ying throw a punch, directing the force away, Elm returned with a kick that sent Ying stumbling. Ying turned around to see Elm contact his chest with a running two foot kick. At first Ying felt nothing but as Elm kicked off he felt Elms semblance activate, Ying, being off balance from the first part of the kick, was sent flying landing just out of the ring.

"Whew, that was close, I haven't had to use a move like that in a while." Elm said dusting himself off. He walked over to the side of the ring and picked up Ying's weapon handing it to him.

"That was a clever move on your part, I thought I had you with my semblance… Damn so close." Elm heard him say to himself as he left the ring.

"Hold on, give me five." Elm said bending over wincing and taking a drink of water.

Elm sat down on a chair and stretched out his arm. Once he was done he ran up to his spot in the ring.

"Alright Goldilocks let's do this." Elm said smirking and cracked his knuckles.

Gold glared intensely at Elm as she put her helmet on and took her spot across from Elm.

Clancy started the match. As soon as he said begin Gold immediately jumped at Elm and swiped the air where he had been seconds ago. Gold pressed her offensive getting faster with each hit to her aura. In one fluid motion Elm slammed his staff into the ground which made Gold stumble for half a second. During Gold's stumble Elm drew his sword in a reverse grip, blocking a swipe from Gold, Elm switched his grip and made his first offensive move. Swinging his sword Elm knocked Gold's right hand to the side, with his staff in cane form he blocked a punch from Gold's left hand, and finally drove his knee into Gold's left kidney, dropped his sword and sent her flying with an open palm strike amplified with his semblance. Gold flew back but managed to keep herself from flying out of the ring.

"Cheap shot." Gold said, wincing and clutching her side.

Before she could do anything, Elm shot his gun, knocking her shoulder to the right he threw his staff hitting her in the head and sending Gold back out of the arena.

"Don't feel bad, he's just getting tired and trying to get a feel for your skills so he still has enough energy to fight me." Clancy said, hauling Gold to her feet.

Once Elm and Mahogany had entered the stage Clancy signaled the match to begin. Mahogany with his weapon is sickle form threw the chain attached to it. Elm caught the projectile and grabbed the weapon, switching it to musket form, Elm swiped out the boys legs and buried the musket into the floor beside Mahogany's head. Elm then picked up mahogany and threw him out of the ring.

"Well that was less than fair." Ying said from his position from the sidelines.

"No comments from the peanut gallery." Elm said breathing hard. It was then that Team MHGY saw the toll of fighting all of them had taken on Elm. He was panting trying to catch his breath, He was sweating and his aura was in the red. Elm walked over to the side and slid down the wall slowly.

"Okay enough for now I'll just nap here." Elm said dozing off his head falling to his chest.

"Let's let him rest, it's my turn now." Clancy said, looking over at his sleeping partner.

"Alright who's first?" Clancy said, a smile creeping up on his face.

* * *

Clancy's fights went relatively smooth. All most all took longer than Elm since he had less offensive capability. He fought more defensively, letting his opponent make the first move then dodging out of the way and countering. Regardless of skill, by the end he too was panting and sweaty. Helo managed to last longer than twenty minutes, Ying proved to be difficult but was eventually defeated when Clancy phased through his hammer strike and shoved Ying out of the ring. Gold nearly rang out Clancy right off the start, she dashed forwards and began forcing him back. However at the last second Clancy dodged out of the way and kicked her out of the ring sending a few rounds from his handgun her way. Mahogany and Clancy were fairly evenly matched, trading hit for hit on multiple occasions. It came down, in the end, to brute strength as they were both locked against one corner both trying to force the other out of the ring. Clancy being the stronger eventually forced Mahogany out of the ring, however Mahogany, as he fell, hauled Clancy with him and they both fell out signaling the end of the match.

"Whew that was really close all the way to the end." Gold complemented the two of them helping Mahogany up.

"No, hold up let me rest a second." Clancy said as Ying was about to haul him to his feet.

"All right then." Elm said as Clancy hopped to his feet.

"Who's ready for cake?" Elm asked, rubbing his hands together.

"Wait a second, didn't you two say you were going to spar?" Gold asked, looking at the two hunters.

"No, I'm too tired and I want cake." Elm said picking up his things and heading towards the door.

"Cake, hell yeah, I'm in!" Clancy said hopping to his feet and grabbing his things.

"But I wanted to see you two fight," Helo whined then got on her knees and begged' "pretty please!"

Elm thought to himself for about twenty seconds then dropped his stuff and sprinted at Clancy who was off guard.

"Quick Clancy, high five." Elm said.

"And why on god's green earth would I do tha-" Clancy was cut short by Elm suddenly shouting:

"Up high, down low, too slow!", as he sent an open palm strike to the center of Clancy's sternum. Team MHGY heard a boom as Clancy was sent flying across the room and through the wall, landing forty feet from the hole.

"Now then let's go get cake!" Helo cheered as she strolled through the hole Clancy left in the wall. Elm followed behind shutting off the monitor with the teams, aura levels displayed and hoping no one noticed his was at zero.

"FUCK YOU ELM! You're paying for that you know!" Clancy shouted from the last hole in the wall.

"Actually, Atlas will pay for this, I got a card to charge to in case we needed anything for the mission." Elm explained while holding up a plastic card.

All six of them walked into the cafe and sat down, ordering a cake for all of them to share.

"You're going to pay for that, one way or another." Clancy gave him the most intense glare that he had ever given. Elm chuckled slightly due to how red Clancy's face was from rage.

Their cake came a few minutes later. It was a triple layer carrot cake with cream cheese icing and red sprinkles on top. All the members of team MHGY got a slice, Elm and Clancy each got one too.

"Alright, there is only enough for five of us, so Clancy doesn't need anymore." Elm handed out the last pieces of cake to everyone around the table, except for Clancy.

"Aww man, thanks for eating the last piece of cake so I didn't have to Elm... you prick." Clancy said sarcastically.

"Healthy eating Clancy! I'm helping you look into it." Elm said after scarfing down the cake on his plate.

"Alright I'm off, it's late and I need some rest. See you all tomorrow." Elm said as he got up to leave.

"But it's only been like, two hours." Helo said, wiping her mouth on a napkin.

"Look, I could die at any point during any day of the week. If that's the case, I want to die in my sleep… Or with a very very big BANG!" Elm stretched startling everyone with his last word.

"How about both?" Clancy said under his breath.

"I heard that, and no!" Elm said as he walked out.

Everyone else did what they wanted to do for the rest of the day and chose to meet at the air strip at ten then next day.

* * *

 **A.N.** so umm… yeah this chapter took a really long time to write mostly because I was super unbelievably lazy and I procrastinated the hell out of writing it too.

 _Spartan25798: Lazy is a term, so is super lazy. You know, your lazy is what a lot of people do when their dead… lay around, and do nothing._

 _RedMoose:_ Don't judge my life choice… I can be that lazy when I rock climb late at night and get up early for archery.

 _OrigamiEnderdragon: I feel obliged to make a comment here so I'm going to write a bunch here so that it looks like I actually took the time to write a nice comment that meant something and you as the reader are going to take the time to read this so here, you know what, act like this was super meaningful for you to read and maybe just don't tell anyone what's really here and keep it going, thanks guys. I really appreciate it._

 _RedMoose:_ Well, that was a waste of time… Time to go break some bones.

 _Spartan25798: Regardless of that last bit, RedMoose will now see all of you readers into the next chapter._


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